Special Features
- 100% up to $250! Enter code: PNE250
- The Betfair Player$ Club : Points for cash - up to 40% Value Back
- GSOP VIII Online - $3,85 Million at stake at the fast approaching GSOP VIII
First impression
At first, Betfair Poker strikes the newcomer as a fairly large poker room with lots of possibilities and soft competition. The site is well-designed and informative, and the newly downloaded poker room software greets users with bright and colorful graphics.
Background
Betfair is the world's leading betting exchange sites, providing comprehensive sportsbetting options and also an online casino service. A licensed bookmaker in the UK (with licenses in Australia, Malta, Austria and Germany), Betfair launched its poker service in May 2004. In 2006, Betfair launched new poker software, delivering a polished and detailed online poker experience. This was updated yet again during end of January 2009. At Betfair Poker players of all bankrolls and abilities have the chance to play and Betfair Poker backs up their poker service with fantastic guaranteed tournaments and impressive on-going promotions. Betfair is also the home to two sponsored pros, John "kunku wap" Tabatabai and Hans Martin Vogl.
Limits and Rake
The limit structure at Betfair Poker reflects their desire to attract players of all abilities and bankrolls. Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit games start as low as $0.02/$0.04. Limit games extend all the way to a high-rolling $1000/$2000, whilst the Pot Limit and No Limit tables max out at $250/$500
The industry standard of 5% rake is generally applied at Betfair Poker. No matter what table or limit, the rake will never exceed $3. At the micro limits, through to $0.05/$0.10, a maximum of $0.10 is raked. The $0.10/$0.20 tables are raked at a maximum of $0.20 and all other tables are raked up to a maximum of $1 to $3 (at a rate of 5%). As is common in most online poker rooms, Betfair Poker does not collect a rake if no flop is dealt for a given hand.
Betfair Poker Players Club
Betfair Poker has a fantastic loyalty scheme known as the Betfair Players Club. Here players can help themselves to generous rewards and it is possible to receive up to 40% valueback on their play. The Players Club has seven levels with everyone starting at Bronze then progressing to Silver, Gold, Sapphire, Diamond, Master and Grand Master. See the table below to discover the Player Point requirements for each level:
- Bronze: Every player starts here
- Silver: 400 Player Points in a calendar month
- Gold: 1,300 Player Points in a calendar month
- Sapphire: 3,500 Player Points in a calendar month
- Diamond: 6,000 Player Points in a calendar month
- Master: 14,000 Player Points over the past 12 months
- Grand Master: 60,000+ Player Points over the past 12 months
Benefits include monthly freerolls of between $1,000 and $5,000, the ability to purchase cash bonuses and tournament tickets in the store, invites to offline events where you will be treated like a VIP and exclusive sports tickets.
Player Traffic
The recent move to the OnGame Network boosted the player pool significantly. Players can still find many loose, vulnerable poker players attracted to Betfair through their huge Sports Betting system. Traffic peaks at around 5,500 cash players during high traffic with a 7-day average of around 3,000 cash game players. Betfair Poker players can now benefit from the network-wide promotions offered by OnGame. Soft opposition combined with excellent tournaments and frequent promotions should keep players coming back to Betfair Poker.
Features in detail
Betfair Poker offers fairly high game variety, which includes Seven card Stud, Omaha High and Texas Hold'em games. Another notable feature in Betfair Poker is its voice chat system - you can chat with your friends live through a unique Betfair Poker channel. Betfair Poker also supports multi-table play.
Software and Extra Features
Betfair is part of the OnGame network who is one of the longest-running networks in the industry. Their state-of-the-art software is slick, stable and extremely easy to navigate. Betfair Poker are committed to improving their customers experience and are constantly adding new features to their client.
Useful options:
- Multi-Table Play –This feature can deliver a staggering 15 table simultaneous play. Perfect for poker professionals.
- Player Notes – Collect comprehensive notes on players of all types.
- Screen Resize – Customize the playing screen size, includes detachable windows.
- Preferred Seat - Choose which seat you prefer to sit on whenever you open a new table, perfect for those who play multiple tables at once
- Hand History – Review, analyze and improve your game with this excellent function.
- Show Folded – See what you could have had, if you had bet to the river.
- Timebank – An extra 30 seconds thinking time is allocated during tournament play, for use once only.
- Betfair Exchange Account – An account at Betfair Poker can be used at Betfair Exchange.
Playability
The design of Betfair Poker is very pleasing to the eye. They also help give the software an incredibly slick and modern look. The lobby is simple to navigate and locating a table, limit level, and game is no trouble at all. The tables themselves are minimalistic in design and this is a welcome change. The focus is on the cards, the chips and the action. The gameplay is quick with short-handed No Limit Hold'em tables seeing upwards of 100 hands per hour and multi-table play is an available option for those seeking a more intense and thrilling online poker experience. The integration of Betfair Poker to the rest of the Betfair network is seamless and delivers first class cashier and customer support service.
Customer Service
24 hour international and UK phone numbers are available to contact technical support directly. Email support is also available and Betfair Poker endeavours to answer all emails within two hours of receipt. Responses are accurate and build upon the excellent customer service that Betfair Exchange is known for.
Security
The security is top-notch, as Betfair is a well established sports book company.
Banking
Banking is available using PAYPAL, VISA, MasterCard, UK debit cards (Delta, Switch, Solo), check, direct bank transfer, Western Union, SKRILL.
PokerStars
Victor Chandler